Updated May 5, 2018
The Kentucky Derby, by the numbers
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A horse trains on the track during morning workouts in preparation for the 144th Kentucky Derby. Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images
The 144th Kentucky Derby is Saturday at Churchill Downs, and CBS Sports reports that Justify is the 7-2 favorite to win it all — $1.24 million, to be exact.
Forbes predicts that upwards of $30 million will be spent on betting in the Churchill pool alone.
Derby day, by the numbers:
- Post time is 6:46 p.m. EST.
- Distance: 1 1/4 miles.
- Purse: $2 million.
- 120,000: The average number of mint juleps sold during the Derby every year, per CNBC.
- 150,000+: The expected attendance.
- 20 horses in the prime-time race: Firenze Fire, Free Drop Billy, Flameaway, Good Magic, Audible, Promises Fulfilled, Lone Sailor, Justify, My Boy Jack, Hofburg, Enticed, Bolt d'Oro, Mendelssohn, Bravazo, Vino Rosso, Magnum Moon, Solomini, Instilled Regard, Combatant, and Noble Indy.
- 5-1 odds: Where My Boy Jack sits — up from 20-1 after rain factored into the race, according to the Business Insider. My Boy Jack has "a proven record on a muddy track," pulling him up to a second place favorite behind Justify.
- 99-1 odds: Instilled Regard sits in last place.
